Povzetek
V zadnjem letu je v Slovenijo pribežalo precej ljudi z vojnih področij in iz držav, kjer se spopadajo s hudo revščino. Nekateri se bodo vrnili, ko se bodo umirile razmere v domovini, mnogi pa bodo pri nas ostali za vedno. Begunci v novo deželo prihajajo z mnogimi bremeni, kot so spomini na travmatična doživetja, čustvene rane, bolečina ob različnih izgubah, ki so jih doživeli, strahovi pred prihodnostjo in še marsikaj. Raziskave kažejo, da sta okrevanje in duševno zdravje pri otrocih vojne predvsem odvisni od psihosocialne kakovosti življenja v okoliščinah po vojni v domačem kraju ali v državi azila. S preprečevanjem negativnih doživetij in z varovanjem psihosocialne kakovosti življenja otrok beguncev v Sloveniji lahko vplivamo na njihovo okrevanje in vživljanje v nove okoliščine. Sedanjost, kakovost življenja tukaj in sedaj, je edino področje na katerega lahko vplivajo posamezniki in organizacije, ki skrbijo za otroke begunce. Pri tem ima še poseben pomen šolsko in vrtčevsko okolje. Za begunca šolarja je šola med najbolj vplivnimi determinantami okrevanja, integracije, normalizacije. Zato je nadvse pomembno, da šolsko okolje dobro pozna stiske, ki jih otroci vojne prinašajo v šolsko okolje, in da si pedagoški delavci prizadevajo za preprečevanje novih stresnih doživetij otroka begunca v šoli in za aktiviranje procesov, ki so vir pozitivnih izkušenj z ljudmi. Ob otrocih beguncih se bodo šolski svetovalni delavci srečali s posebnimi strokovnimi izzivi. Poiskati bodo morali odgovore na praktična vprašanja o tem, kako pomagati otroku, in kritično razmisliti o vlogi stroke takrat, ko moramo pomagati otrokom s skrajno neugodnimi in bolečimi izkušnjami ter otrokom, ki živijo v neugodnih okoliščinah, na katere ne moremo vplivati.
Abstract
Role of School Counsellors in the Case of Refugee Children
In the past year, many people have fled to Slovenia from war zones and from countries facing severe poverty. Some of them will return once the situation in their homeland calms down, while many will stay here forever. Refugees come to this new land bearing many burdens, such as memories of traumatic experiences, emotional wounds, pain from the losses they have experienced, fear of the future, and many more. Research shows that the recovery and mental health of children of war mostly depend on the psychosocial quality of life in the circumstances after the war in their hometown or in the country of asylum. By preventing negative experiences and protecting the psychosocial quality of life of refugee children in Slovenia, we can influence their recovery and their ability to assimilate to the new circumstances. The present, the quality of life here and now, is the only area which can be influenced by individuals and organisations that are taking care of refugee children. Of special importance in this process is the school and kindergarten environment. For a refugee schoolchild, school is one of the most influential determinants of recovery, integration and normalisation. It is therefore highly important that the school environment is well familiar with the distress that the children of war bring with them to the school environment, and that the pedagogical staff strives to prevent new stressful experiences of refugee children in school and to activate the processes that are a source of positive experiences with other people. Working with refugee children, school counsellors will face special professional challenges. They will have to find answers to practical questions about how to help the child, and critically reflect on the role of the profession when it comes to helping children with extremely unpleasant and painful experiences, and children who are living under unfavourable circumstances which we cannot influence.